Improvement of plant communities through revegetation with Kochia prostrata and Agropyron fragile on the desert zone of the Republic of Kalmykia

Abstract

Restoring herbaceous cover of degraded ecosystems is an urgent issue for regions where livestock breeding is the main direction of the economy. The vegetation of the desert zone of the Republic of Kalmykia is used as a forage source almost all year round. Heavy grazing (exceeding stocking rates) in the region results in a reduction of valuable perennial forage species in the plant community and invasion of annual species that do not afford the sod. Grazing efficiency decreases, open areas of soil are subjected to wind erosion. Restoring vegetation in the areas that have lost the ability to self-regenerate is possible through revegetation, a method for improving degraded ecosystems by replanting the soil. The scientific literature on revegetation in arid conditions abounds with information available on ecological, biological and varietal characteristics, agricultural technology for revegetative species, and the yield of certain species on revegetated sites. The authors monitored plant communities enhanced through revegetation in the southern part of the Caspian lowland within the Republic of Kalmykia. The vegetation dynamics was studied through direct observation and indirect extrapolation of spatial series into time series. The paper presents data on the improvement of natural plant communities through revegetation, including adaptation of revegetative species in buffer zones, tops accumulation depending on the type and age of revegetative species, the effect of fires, etc.